


I Am A Monster

by emercrump



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Corrupted Steven Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23397661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emercrump/pseuds/emercrump
Summary: Steven’s head was full of so many conflicting thoughts, but out of all of those thoughts, he only knew one true fact.He’s a monster.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 164





	1. Discord

Steven couldn’t understand what was happening to him. His head was full of so many thoughts and conflicting emotions.  _ Why am I so angry-What is happening to me-GET AWAY FROM ME-Stop it-Who are you-Help me-It hurts-What am I doing?!  _ All those thoughts collided into one giant rampage. Steven could only know one true fact. 

He’s a monster.

— —- —

Steven roared and charged back to the people on the beach. Now that the giant hand was gone(he didn’t understand why it just popped out of existence but ignored it) he could finally do something about the people on the beach. He could see they were talking, perhaps planning a way to take him down. He roared once more, and noticed the blue flying one next to his head. 

“Sorry buddy, I need you to stay here!” Lapis said, swinging her arms and conjuring up a large wave. 

As the wave approached, Steven growled. She was just going to keep throwing water at him and he’d never get anywhere! If only he were faster, then this wouldn’t be a problem! He just needed to be faster…

And what he needed, he would get. 

His gem glowed pink, and everything slowed down around him. He took a moment to adjust, and started to move. He crashed through the wave with a big swipe of his claws, and smacked the flying one down into the ocean, and continued moving forward. He noticed the rest of them, all running to where he was. Probably to attack when the flying one had him distracted. Well, he had no time to waste.

He charged forward, tripping the glasses girl-did she get taller?- with his tail, smacking the other 2 flying people out of the sky, throwing the ones on the cloud into the sky, and charging through the 3 tall ones. He looked at the remaining girl and large cat, but left them alone, for reasons he didn’t know. Now that they were taken care of, he could finally reach the town. 

The thoughts in his head kept colliding.  _ What is this town? Why do I have to go there? Who are these people and why do they keep trying to attack me? Why am I so afraid-confused-angry?!  _ He began to climb the large hill. When he reached the top, time turned back to normal. Looking upon the town, he roared mightily and knocked over the lighthouse. 

— —- —

Back in the water, the gems were feeling the effects of Steven’s attack. 

“Agh...What happened?” Amethyst said, holding her head in pain. 

Pearl got up next to her, and struggled to stand. “He must’ve moved fast like before...” 

They both heard yelling from above them, and saw Greg falling. Amethyst reacted fast and grabbed Greg before he hit the ground. 

“Phew...thanks Amethyst.” Greg said as Amethyst set him down. 

“No problem. Ugh, I thought that would’ve been so easy after that speech!”

Connie rode next to the fallen gems on Lion, and asked “Are you ok? What happened?” 

The large Garnet stood up and said “Steven was able to slow down time in his pink form. Connie, are you ok?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine. He didn’t do anything to us, there was just a bright flash and all of you were down!” 

“He left you alone?” Peridot said, limping up to them with Bismuth. 

“That’s good, right? So Steven is still in there!” Bismuth chimed in. 

“That may be. The plan stays the same, we have to keep him away from the-“ Garnet explained, but stopped short when she saw Steven on the hill, heading towards the town. 

“Oh no he’s at the town! Connie, did you-“ Pearl asked.

“I evacuated everyone to the shelters, and double-checked, the town is empty.” Connie said as the gems started to rush forward. 

“Yellow, change me back to normal size!” Garnet yelled, rushing past the Diamonds, who were starting to follow. 

Yellow shot a beam at Garnet, changing her back to normal size. Garnet grabbed Amethyst and Pearl’s shoulders and called out to everyone else.

“Do what we did last time, just get him back into the ocean!” Garnet said as she fused with Amethyst and Pearl into Alexandrite. 

— —- —

Steven stomped loudly around the vacant town, crushing buildings and roaring loudly.  _ Why am I here-What is this place-EVERYTHING OUT OF MY WAY!!!!  _

He got ready to step on a small building with what appeared to be a large circle on top, but stopped. A clear thought seemed to be forming, until the big 6-armed lady from before leaped on his face. He struggled with her for a bit and stumbled around. He finally grabbed her, took a large step, and threw her off. He then looked down and found that in his struggle, he had crushed the building. 

Steven started to get angry.  _ Why am I so angry about this-THEY MADE ME CRUSH IT-But why do I care so much-IT’S THEIR FAULT!  _ Steven roared angrily, and all his horns started to glow. He aimed himself at the large 6-armed lady, and his eyes started to glow. He reared back, but something slammed into the back of his head, making him lose coordination and aiming his roar at the ground. The force of the roar knocked him backwards and he collapsed on the ground. 

In his blurred vision, he could see the two flying people above him. 

“Sorry again, Steven!!!” He could hear from the green one.  _ Steven?-Why do they keep calling me that-GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!  _ Steven growled and flipped over onto all fours. The flying ones hit his head as they flew by again, so Steven set off. He only got 2 bounds in before realizing where they were leading him. Back to the water. He may be a monster, but he’s not a dumb monster. So he stopped. 

— —- —

Peridot and Bismuth were once again flying for their lives from the large monster Steven. They flew over the ocean and started doing circles. 

This was taking longer than last time, so Bismuth asked “Is he almost here?” 

Peridot turned, and saw Steven just staring at them, standing right before the beach. 

“He’s just...standing there. Menacingly…” Peridot responded. 

Peridot made them stop moving, and they both looked at Steven, and Steven stared back. 

“Uhh...Hey! Come get us you...spiky...lumpy…large person!” Peridot yelled, trying to get Steven to move. Steven continued to stare at them. 

“Do you think he’s remembering us?” Bismuth asked, looking up at Peridot.

“Maybe…” Peridot said, cautiously piloting them close to Steven. Steven continued to stare as they got closer. 

“Steven, it’s us. Bismuth and Peridot...Don’t worry, you’re fine. We’ll come to you.” Bismuth reassured Steven. 

Peridot was shaking madly, and looked over at Alexandrite for guidance. Alexandrite hesitated, then nodded. Peridot sighed in relief, and kept floating herself and Bismuth. Soon they were right in Steven’s face. The other gems started to approach Steven from the side and behind, but Lapis stayed close to the water. 

“See? We’re not gonna hurt you. We just want to talk, Steven.” Bismuth said.

Peridot gulped, and reached out to touch Steven’s nose. “Y-Yeah! Steven, I know you feel like-“ 

Steven immediately swiped to grab Peridot, sending Bismuth falling, but not too far. Steven stared down Peridot and roared in her face. 

“AH! Steven, please! You’re an amazing person, and you’re very lovable, and you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me! AND I’M SORRY I KEEP STEALING YOUR WASHER PARTS!!!” Peridot pleaded as Steven continued to stare. 

A yellow beam then struck Steven’s hand, making it momentarily large enough for Peridot to get free. Steven roared at Yellow, but noticed Lapis throwing an even larger wave at him. He growled and a pink wall formed in front of him, blocking the wave. Lapis tried redirecting it, but Steven blocked it every way she tried. 

A little away from the fight, Alexandrite unfused.

“What do we do now? Now he knows to stay away from the ocean!” Pearl asked, getting more and more worried. 

Garnet thought, and said “We’ll have to show him love in another way. We need someone to talk to him and actually get through, and then everyone else can do their thing.”

“But who? We can’t risk Greg or Connie without knowing it’ll work! Maybe-“ Pearl thought before getting cut off by Amethyst. 

“Ooh, I know! No time to explain, but I’ll be right back!” Amethyst said, spin dashing back towards the house. 

— —- —

Steven had enough of the water lady, so he turned around and scrambled away from the water, blocking all her attacks with his pink wall-shield. When he was a safe distance away, he got back on his feet. The 2 flying ones were flying fast towards him again, but instead of dodging, he set up another wall, and the two of them smacked into it. This gave him an idea. He extended the wall to cover his entire body, but left him room to move around. He watched as the flying ones tried to break the wall, but couldn’t make a dent. 

Now he was finally safe, no one to hurt him, fight him, or get in his way. He continued forward, as his foes made futile attempts to break his safe haven. After a while of moving through the town, he suddenly set his sights on the large building in the distance with the spinning thing on top.  _ Go now-But why-You’re a monster, so act like one-Why does this hurt-DESTROY!!!!  _ Steven roared once more and picked up the pace. 

“Stop!!!” Steven suddenly heard someone call out to him. He would’ve normally ignored this voice, but this was a new one. And it sounded so familiar…

He turned to see another Gem, one with one large green eyeball for a gem.  _ Who are you-I know you-Nephr-GO AWAY!!!  _ Steven roared at her, but she stood her ground. 

“You don’t need to do this! This isn’t you! You’re not a monster!” She said, starting to approach him. He backed away and roared at her again for a warning, but she kept moving forward. 

“You’re more than this, Steven.” She said, now up to his wall.  _ Send her away-Let her in-Don’t be fooled-STOP!!!  _ He had temptations to roar, but didn’t. 

“We have so many memories. Remember drawing?” She said, putting her hand on the wall.  _ Don’t listen to her-This is familiar...and nice…  _ The wall started to weaken slightly where she was. 

“And when you got me back to my crew? And how we became best friends?” She said. Steven could start to see tears forming in her eye.  _ Why is she crying-Why am I so sad-Don’t be fooled-Let her in…  _ The wall dropped around her, letting her walk in, but then closing immediately when she was inside. She walked up to him and hugged his foot. 

“You have to remember! I know I probably didn’t do your speech as well as you did, but you helped me when I was a monster, so I’m going to help you!” She said, now crying. Steven roared at her once more, but she didn’t move or run away in fear. 

Suddenly Steven started to relax. The angry feelings were going away, and so were all the colliding emotions. The whole wall dropped, and suddenly the other gems were around him too.  _ IT WAS A TRAP-THEY’RE GOING TO DESTROY YOU-No…  _ They felt the same as she did, gentle and kind. The three large ones made him feel some hostility, but the other ones felt gentler. Even the giant hand from before stretched out of the ocean to hold his own giant hand. 

“Steven, I know you probably feel so low now, and that nothing is ever going to get better, but it can! You showed me that! You can make a change, right?” The stretchy armed one said. 

“Steven, you were that one glimmer of hope for me after I was trapped in that mirror for so long, you made me who I am! I’m going to be that for you!” Said the blue-flying one. 

The other people around him were saying stuff too, and Steven heard them, but a precise thought was finally forming in his twisted mind...

_ I’m not like this...I’m not a monster...I’m Ste- _

Suddenly something powerful struck him in the back, and all those thoughts were lost. He crashed to the ground, the people around him scattered, and he looked up to see who had done this.

“Back off you monster. I’ll protect my Diamond!” Said a harsh, familiar voice. 

_ Jasper.  _


	2. Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gems have to resort to a new plan after Jasper's intrusion.

_ Jasper? How do I know her…  _ Steven’s breathing quickly increased. He couldn’t understand why he was breathing faster; was he afraid? Angry? She wasn’t any bigger than the other threats, sure she hit slightly harder, but that didn’t matter. This was colliding into another precise thought, but this was different than the already-forgotten thought from before.  _ Go away-Go away-Go away-Go away-GO AWAY!!!!!  _ Steven roared louder than he had ever before, but his breathing remained the same. 

Jasper sneered, and formed a helmet around her head. “Heh, afraid are you? Come on monster, gimme your best shot.” 

_ Monster-Monster-Monster-I’m a monster-No-I’ll show you a monster!!!!!  _ Steven hopped to his feet and charged towards Jasper, trampling buildings and almost one of the threats- _ darn _ . He swiped at her with his claws, but she charged into the sky. 

“Heh, too slow!” She said, starting to charge at him. 

_ You’re the slow one.  _ Steven’s gem glowed, slowing down time. He didn’t even bother dodging, he just grabbed her, dragged her through the ground, and then threw her into the distance. Time returned back to normal, but Jasper kept charging. This time he set up another pink wall, which took Jasper by surprise and she crashed directly into it. 

“This wall...“ She was cut off by Steven sending the wall and her crashing into the ground. 

Steven could’ve just walked away, but he didn’t. The angriness wouldn’t go away. He had to take care of her.  _ This is a monster, Jasper.  _ He stomped towards her, and she got back up. She charged at him again, and would continue charging, and he continued slashing and blocking her. 

He could sense the other threats yelling things, either to him or to her, he didn’t care. He slammed her into the ground once again, created a stack of 5 walls, and slammed it down into her. But she was still there.

“That all you got, monster?” She yelled, clearly oblivious to the actual danger she was in. 

_ Monster-Monster-Monster-Monster-Monster-Act like one.  _ Steven roared angrily once more, and stuck his hand out. He made a small dome directly around Jasper. Jasper bashed, punched and kicked the dome, but it wouldn’t break. 

Steven muttered a monstrous evil laugh under his breath, and the dome around Jasper started to close. Jasper kept trying to break it, and even dug into the ground to try to get more space, but Steven had already closed the dome beneath her. 

_ This is what you get-You should’ve left me alone-Now you’ll never stop me again-She doesn’t deserve this-Nobody deserves this-I SHATTERED YOU ONCE, I CAN DO IT AGAIN!!!! _

The dome had already encased Jasper’s whole body, and it didn’t show signs of slowing down. He could feel the flying duo attacking his head, but it didn’t throw him off. He was finally about to be rid of this nuisance. Suddenly, images were flashing through Steven’s head. 

_ Weakness-Power-“You’re right Jasper. I have been holding back.”-Shattered-Shards-Bathroom-Tears-“Jasper, I’m sorry. Please come back. Please…” _

Steven suddenly dropped the dome around Jasper and began breathing heavily again. Jasper took a moment to catch her breath, but wasted no time charging back at Steven. 

_ No more distractions. _ Steven recreated the barrier around his entire body before Jasper struck it, this time making it even stronger, even though he knew he didn’t need to. He wouldn’t be so fooled by any of these people. Clearly they got him to lower his guard so Jasper could attack him. He was foolish, but he wouldn’t be foolish anymore. He ignored Jasper’s attempts of attacking him, and continued on towards the large building in the distance. 

— —- —

Jasper kept battling the large monster in front of her. She didn’t know what it was, or why it had the same powers as her Diamond, but she would defeat it. Suddenly, a whip latched around Jasper’s body and yanked her down to the ground. 

Amethyst was holding the whip, staring Jasper with intense anger. 

“What are you-“ Jasper started, before Amethyst punched her arm. 

“What is WRONG with you?! We almost had him!!!” Amethyst yelled at her. 

“You almost had him? You were barely even crushing him! What even is that thing, and why does it have the same powers as my Diamond?” 

“Stop calling him that, and that thing IS ‘your Diamond!’” Amethyst yelled back. 

Jasper was shocked. “Wha-Impossible!” 

“Shut up! Gah, why’d you have to call him a monster so many times...Look, Garnet has a plan, we’re going to help Steven, so either leave or come help us!” Amethyst said, stomping off. 

Jasper was conflicting, but followed. A Jasper's purpose was to serve their Diamond, so that was what she was going to do. Jasper followed Amethyst to where the rest of the gems were, and they were all looking at Garnet. 

Lapis saw Jasper, and immediately grew hostile. “Oh no, no way, what is she-“

“Oh my gosh WE’RE NOT DOING THIS AGAIN!!! Just shut up and listen to Garnet’s plan!” Amethyst yelled. 

Lapis crossed and turned away from Jasper, but splashed some water in her face when doing so. Jasper growled but didn’t retaliate. 

“Steven is learning in this form. We’ve already failed once, and if we fail again, we may not get another chance. I’ve already sent Greg, Peridot and Bismuth to go set up my plan, we just need to lure Steven there…” Garnet plotted. She then set her sights on Jasper. 

“And looks like we have just the gem for the job.” Garnet said, directing everyone to Jasper. Jasper was surprised, but listened. 

“Jasper, you need to lure Steven to the building at the left end of the hill, the one with the large metal sign. Don’t call him a monster or your Diamond, don’t mention him shattering you, and watch your left.” Garnet ordered. 

“Don’t give me orders!” Jasper yelled. 

“Will you do it or not?” Garnet asked back. 

“....If it’s for my Diamond, then I’ll do it.” Jasper begrudgingly replied. 

“Good. Connie, you and Lion need to go with her, just to get the chase started. Everyone else, follow me.” Garnet ordered once more. Everyone set off. 

— —- —

Steven was now across the town, continuing to stomp towards the building, and what he realized was another town. He hadn’t seen, felt or heard any of the threats, so maybe they had finally left him alone. Now he was truly by himself, in his own blissful state. 

“Hey, you big pink thing!” He heard a voice call. 

So much for that. 

He recognized the voice as Jasper, but didn’t do anything. After all, no one could touch him in the state he was in. Until suddenly a small pink circle appeared in front of his nose, and Jasper and the girl with the big cat popped out of it. 

And so much for that…

Jasper summoned her helmet and bashed it directly into his nose. Steven roared in pain, and clutched his nose. The three of them jumped back through the portal, and Steven saw the girl and the cat jump to the side, but Jasper stayed in front of him, taunting him. 

This was a breaking point for Steven. He had let her go, and she was still so insistent on hurting him?! After all the hurt he put her through?! And how DARE she put Connie in danger?!!!  _ Connie? That’s her name. Connie…-ANGER!!!!!  _ Steven roared and started chasing her once more. Steven saw they were headed back through the previous town, but was in such a fury he didn’t care where they were headed, unless it was to the ocean. He continued chasing after her, until Connie and Lion- _ Lion?- _ swooped by again, taking her through another pink portal, and they were all gone. 

Steven scanned the city, looking for any signs of Jasper, but couldn’t find any. He clenched his fists and roared to the sky once more. He took some deep breaths, but slowed them down to listen. He heard something, it was a voice, but they weren’t talking, they were...singing. 

“We...Gems!...save the day!....” Steven could partially make out from the song. 

Steven stomped carefully, trying to find out where the singing was coming from.  _ What is this song-DON’T GO BACK IT’S A TRICK-But this song is so familiar…  _ Steven stopped at a small metal building, near the ocean.  _ Ocean-Chains-Trapped-They’re trying to lure you back in-Keep the shield up and see what happens... _ He saw a large metal sign on the building with a picture of a man in a car, and some words.  _ It’s...A...Wash? Is that a pun or something?  _ Next to the building appeared to be a stage, and he could see some of the people- _ Not people, threats- _ on the stage. The glasses girl was playing a guitar and singing. 

“That’s why the people of this world believe in...Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, and Steven!” She continued. 

_ Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl...and…. _ This song was so familiar, just hearing it made Steven’s monstrous body relax.  _ Don’t relax, they’re tricking you.  _ Steven backed up, this caused the people- _ threats?- _ on the ground to get nervous, but he was just giving himself room to get down on all fours to get closer to the song. He also thinned the barrier around his head. Garnet- _ that’s right, her name is Garnet. Just like the song…-  _ seemed to smile, and he noticed she was missing her glasses.  _ Woah she has 3 eyes... _ She slowly got closer to Steven and kept playing. 

“If you’re staring with your giant eyes…” She continued to sing, pointing at Steven’s own giant eyes- _ monster eyes.  _ She sang through the whole song, and when she was done, she got close to Steven, and pressed her hand gently on his barrier, and smiled up at him.  _ She’s lowering your guard like before… _ But he just looked at her. He laid himself down on the ground, but still left the barrier up. He noticed one of the other people was going up on the stage. 

This was the jacket lady.  _ I think this is...Pearl.-Their names don’t matter, they’re luring you into a false sense of security-Get away before it’s too late-I want to listen-What will she play?  _ Pearl got on a piano, and began playing. 

This song was very familiar too, talked about...strength, Steven assumed. 

“I can show you how to be strong...in the real way, and I know that we can be strong! In the real way. And I want to…” Pearl sang, and would continue to sing. 

_ This song is nice too-What does it even mean-there’s only 1 way of being strong-But it’s still so nice…  _ Pearl finished singing, and went over next to Garnet, pressed her hand on the barrier, and smiled up at Steven. The barrier around Steven’s body then melted away into the air. He couldn’t tell if he let it fall or if he was doing subconsciously, but he would allow it for the time being. Garnet and Pearl then walked closer to Steven, looking up at him for approval. Steven gave them a low rumble for approval.  _ But you better not try anything.  _ They both walked up closer and pressed their hands against his head. 

Now one of the other flying ones was coming up on stage, the one with rainbow hair. _Her name is...-WHO CARES-Well, it'll come to me. I wonder what she'll sing?_

She cleared her throat and began singing, "When has it ever been easy? Hasn't it always been hard to be us?"

Steven liked this song too, it was about a team called the Crystal Gems never giving up. Bismuth took her spot on the right spot of Steven's head. _These Crystal Gems sound really nice. Are these people the Crystal Gems?-Crystal Gems only want to trap you-Bismuth! Her name is Bismuth! She has a great voice!_

Now the blue-flying one was walking up on the stage.  _ This one is….-It doesn’t matter-Um...Lap...Or was it Laz… _ He decided it would come to him eventually. 

“Oooh, why so blue….” She began to sing. 

Steven really didn’t know what this song was about, but enjoyed it nonetheless.  _ Why are you singing about me being blue, you’re the blue one. Blue...ocean...Oh right, her name is Lapis-They’re tricking you…  _ Suddenly all the angry, untrusting, cruel thoughts seemed to vanish from his mind. Steven couldn’t see this, but the other gems could see traces of a smile coming from his jagged- _ monstrous _ -mouth. Lapis joined Garnet and Pearl, and Steven looked at the stage curiously to see who would come up next. 

It was the green flying one.  _ Period? No, Peridot.  _ Peridot had a little ukulele with red marker and crayon drawn messily on it.  _ Looks like she’s trying to imitate someone else’s... _

Peridot cleared her throat, took a moment to tune the ukulele, then started playing. “Life and death, and love and birth, and peace and war on the planet Earth. Is there anything that’s worth more than peace and love on the planet Earth?” 

_ Aw, this is a sweet song… _

“Oh-woah, come on and sing it with me!”

_ Sing… _

“The words relate to the key!”

_ Key? I don’t see a door anywhere… _

“If it’s a pattern, if it’s a pattern, then just repeat after me! Life and death and love and birth…”

_ Life and death and love and birth…  _ Steven growled along to the song. Peridot didn’t expect that, as she skipped a verse in surprise and Steven could visibly see her start to cry, but go back to singing, “And peace and war on the planet Earth!” 

She finished her song and joined the other gems.  _ Now who’s next?  _ Steven saw a pair of legs jump on the stage, and then a stretchy body joined the legs.  _ Stretchy...stretchy...spinny….Spinel!  _ Spinel grabbed the microphone and started to sing, though without any accompanying music. “I can make a promise. I can make a plaaaaaaaan. I can make a difference. I can take a staaaaaaand!!!” 

The song was a little pitchy, but Spinel’s exaggerated expressions and singing gave Steven some rumbly laughs. She hopped up on Steven’s head when she was finished, and the other 3 large ones- _ Diamonds _ -went near his back.  _ I guess they don’t have a song to sing. Now who??? I’m so excited!!  _

Now the pale one with a guitar walked onto the stage. _Greg? No,_ _Dad. Heh, that's a silly name._ He strummed his guitar and began to sing, "I could never be, I could never be, I could never be ready for this..."

This song was great too, though Steven was confused on what he couldn't be ready for. Steven let out a happy roar and smiled when Dad had finished, and Dad went up to the left side of Steven's head. _Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, who's next, who's next???_

The purple one then walked on stage.  _ Amethyst!  _ Steven tried to growl out her name, his smile widened, and his tail even started to wag. He could see Amethyst start to laugh too, and then begin to sing. “In the light of the day, in the dark of the night...When you’re raring to go, when you’re tired from the fight…” 

This was probably the sweetest song he had heard, about always being there for a friend no matter what. Amethyst took her place, sitting on one of his spikes- _ horns? Thorns? Doesn’t matter.  _ Steven laughed after the song.  _ Wow, I’m such a lucky monster, having all these nice people sing these songs for me. But...would they be singing for me if I was a monster?  _

Steven put that thought to the side, and looked around.  _ That was all of the Gems...is it done now? Aw…  _ But no, he saw another girl walk onto the stage, carrying a violin. 

_ CONNIE!!!!  _ Steven’s smile got the biggest it could, his eyes momentarily turned into stars, he roared cheerfully, and dragged himself and the other gems closer to the stage. He clapped loudly for her, said incomprehensible roars of excitement, and pressed his face directly against the stage, but not too hard as to damage it. Connie giggled, and started to play. 

“The sun is bright, our shirts are clean, we’re sitting up above the sea, come on and share this jam with me…” She sang. 

Steven gave her his undivided attention. He didn’t know it, but he was starting to tear up. 

“Peach or plum or strawberry, any kind is fine you see, come on and share this jam with me…” 

She began to walk forward. Tears started to build up in his eyes, but he continued watching and smiling big. 

“I’ll do my best, to give this jam the sweetness it deserves…” 

She was up at Steven’s nose. Tears were now streaming down his face. 

“And I’ll keep it fresh, I’m jamming on these tasty preserves…” 

She walked onto Steven’s nose, and closer to his face. 

“Ingredients in harmony, we mix together perfectly, come on and share this jam with me!” She finished off the song, now resting her hand between his eyes. The tears kept flowing out of Steven’s eyes, and they were starting to glow pink. 

Steven looked at her happily and gave very cheerful roars, wishing he could just tell her “That was amazing!”  _ Why am I crying? I’m so happy… _

He then felt her set down the violin on his nose, and her pressing both hands against his face. “Steven, we’re all here for you…I know you must’ve been afraid, but we’re not going anywhere. We’re all going to take care of you, the same way you take care of us.”  _ Ste...ven... _

He could feel her own tears starting to fall on his face. 

“You know what? I don’t have your powers, but…”

He felt her give him a gentle kiss on his face. Suddenly he started laughing gently, and he himself began to glow pink. He kept laughing, until the laughter changed into sharp sobs, and as the pink glow engulfed him and everyone around him, he suddenly remembered what that earlier thought was. 

_ I’m not like this… _

_ I’m not a monster... _

_ I’m Steven.  _

And he was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that's the end of the story. I'm really glad how this turned out, especially the singing section. I'm likely going to make a little sequel talking about the aftermath, but it'll be separate to this one. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the story!


End file.
